Huntsman left in Siberia, again

When the Republicans gathered for their first debate focused on foreign policy Saturday, the candidate with the most foreign policy experience got left in Siberia.

That’s how Jon Huntsman, a former ambassador to China and Singapore, described the feeling of waiting 40 minutes into the National Journal/CBS debate for what was his second question of the night.

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Huntsman’s been stuck at the back of the polls and struggling to get attention for his campaign. Saturday’s debate came with less than two months to go until the New Hampshire primary — which Huntsman has made into the make-or-break moment for his campaign — and the other candidates competing for the non-Mitt Romney vote imploding. But Huntsman was once again unable to stand out, even in a forum focused on a topic where he’s got the deepest background of any of his rivals and which he’s spent more time addressing on the trail than most.

And while his campaign spokesman, Tim Miller, predicted just before the event that the former Utah governor would make clear his foreign policy differences with his rivals, Huntsman was reluctant to take the kind of swings on stage that his campaign’s been making for him in the hopes of gaining some traction.

Rather than attack Romney his suggestion that the United States formally accuse China of currency manipulation at the World Trade Organization, Huntsman used a question about China as a quiet, teachable moment.

“First of all, I don’t think, Mitt, you can take China to the WTO on currency-related issues,” Huntsman said. “Second, I don’t know that this country needs a trade war with China. … So what should we be doing? We should be reaching out to our allies and constituencies within China. They’re called the young people, they’re called the internet generation.”

Asked about the European debt crisis, he used the time to answer a previous question about what to do if Pakistan lost control of a nuclear weapon by explaining the back story, name-checking Pakistani Gen. General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and President Asif Ali Zardari.

Huntsman has played up his foreign policy chops — his daughters tweeted about it repeatedly during the debate — during a campaign season where experience hasn’t been a prerequisite for taking the lead, as Donald Trump, then Michele Bachmann and now Herman Cain demonstrated.

And Huntsman, who served as President Barack Obama’s man in China, on Saturday night endorsed Obama’s policy on Afghanistan, saying that the killing of Osama bin Laden means the United States can bring its troops home.

Later, when asked a question about the nation’s debt by Sen. Jim DeMint, Huntsman went so far as to say he agrees with Romney about divesting the federal government of responsibility for Medicaid, while repeating his support for Rep. Paul Ryan’s proposed budget reforms.

Meanwhile, via Twitter and campaign press releases, Huntsman’s staff was aggressively attacking Romney – “Pandering Or Serious Solutions?” and “Romney All Over The Map On Afghanistan” — continuing a sharp touch online, light touch onstage strategy Huntsman’s used throughout the previous debates. Wednesday night in Michigan, he resisted attacking Romney on China trade policy even pressed to by the moderators.

The result: in 90 minutes on stage, Huntsman spoke for just over six minutes. He didn’t try to get more time, unlike Bachmann, who repeatedly tried to interject — and who, along with Ron Paul, immediately after launched an attack on the debate sponsors for limiting her speaking opportunities.

“What can you do?” Huntsman said, when asked in the spin room about his lack of time. He added: “These aren’t perfect venues for the American people to kind of absorb what’s in our heads about these issues. And it’d be nice if we could somehow reconstitute them in ways that provided a little more time on the issues that really do matter.”